Harry Potter and the Runaway Plan
by Crowlows19
Summary: When Harry runs away to another world, Draco is the one to follow and bring him home. AU. Just a One-shot.


Hopefully, this makes sense. I'm so tired there's no telling what mistakes I didn't catch or if the plot only makes any sense in my head. Like some weird dream that everyone else thinks is completely insane but makes perfect sense to you.

ugh, anyway....I don't own Harry Potter.

When a swirling vortex of light and magic suddenly opens up in the middle of the Great Hall during dinner it's likely to be considered some sort of threat to security. Draco knew and understood that very well by this point. This was the fourth world he'd carved his way into looking for that stupid, stupid friend of his.

So really it was no surprise that when the light dimmed and the magic settled that he was once again at wand point, and once again being looked at like he was the devil himself come to lure souls to hell. He wasn't surprised to be immediately arrested and by this point he figured it would be easier not to argue or protest. Eventually they would ask him who he was and where he came from and why he was there. They'd be extremely curious after all; he knew that he would be.

"Who are you?" the Auror asked. Draco didn't recognize him but all that really meant was that he wasn't familiar with this aspect of the criminal system. Behind the Auror was an Unspeakable, cloaked and ready to kill.

"Draco Malfoy," he replied.

"Impossible," the man practically spat. "Draco Malfoy is at-"

"Hogwarts," Draco interrupted. "Sleeping soundly in his bed like a good little boy."

"Then who are you?"

"The Draco Malfoy of a different world," the blond said warily. He'd had this conversation three times already. It was quickly becoming a boring routine for the eighteen year old.

They didn't believe him at first but by the end of the very long night he was able to convince them of the truth of his identity. The Department of Mysteries confirmed that dimensional travel was theoretically possible even if they currently didn't have the technology or magical ability to accomplish it. This brought about more questions about how he had been able to it but Draco remained tight lipped, telling them he had no idea how the process was completed. He simply went where he was supposed to go.

He was then asked why he had come. That was always the very last question they asked; he wasn't sure why, it seemed to him to be the question they should always ask first.

"A very important wizard from my world has taken refuge in some other world," he told the Unspeakables, the Aurors having been kicked out as they didn't the necessary security clearance for this conversation. "I'm here to find him and bring him back."

"Why did he leave?" the man sitting across from him asked. Draco shrugged.

"That's a good question," he replied. "We truly aren't sure as to why he decided to do this. He sometimes does things without rhyme or reason."

"Who is he?"

Draco paused knowing full well that eventually everyone would have to know who he was looking for. Even the stupid idiot couldn't hide from an entire world, no matter how good his disguise was.

"Harry," the blond said and imagined shocked faces behind those hoods. "Harry Potter. The Boy-Who-Lived."

The Harry Potter of this world was younger than him. It was one of those worlds whose time lines went a little more slowly than his own. This boy was fourteen and getting ready to complete his first task in the Triwizard Tournament. Draco held his tongue. It wasn't his place to interfere with the fates of other realities.

Draco had been allowed to come to Hogwarts to begin his search for his wayward friend, with an escort of course. An Auror and an Unspeakable, how special was he? He didn't know either of them and he didn't bother to remember their names.

The Slytherin was currently sitting across from the dark haired boy at a table in an unused classroom. Both Dumbledore and his Head of House were there, as was an exonerated and freed Sirius Black.

"Has anyone strange tried to contact you?" Draco asked, mentally running through his questions, already memorized.

"No, no one," the boy replied.

"Have you received any strange packages?"

"No."

"What about you Mr. Black?"

"No," the man replied. Draco restrained himself from letting out an irritated huff of air. It was starting to look like Harry wasn't here either.

"Have you seen any strange lights, or had any blackouts within the last month or so?" he asked.

"Um, no, I don't think so," he said.

"Have there been any strange miracles within the last month?" Draco continued and Black gave him a strange look.

"What kind of question is that?" the man asked.

"Just answer the question," Draco very nearly snapped.

"I don't believe so," the boy said. At least he seemed willing to answer.

"Has anybody recently contacted a newspaper, magazine, or any other sort of media claiming to have been inspired?"

"Inspired to do what?" the child asked looking confused. Draco didn't blame him but he really wasn't in the mood to explain. It wasn't like it would matter soon anyway.

"Harry has a tendency to inspire people to 'be all that they can be'," the blond sneered. "He's disgustingly good at it."

"There was an article in the Quibbler," Dumbledore spoke up. Draco snapped his eyes towards him, hoping against hope that he had finally landed in the right world. "But that was over two months ago." And just like that the hope deflated. Harry would have still been in their world, at home, where he belonged.

"He would still have been home," the blond said. He stood up and shut the case folder he'd practically had to tear from the Auror's hands. "Thank you for your time but it doesn't look as if he's here."

"Why would you think he'd contact me?" the boy asked him as he turned to leave. Draco spared him a pointed look at his scar.

"Harry has a soft spot for orphans and stray animals," he sneered at him and left without another word.

Draco travelled from world to world looking for the Gryffindor. He believed he'd seen every possible combination of their lives from achingly perfect to downright weird. He hoped Harry would appreciate this one day. Otherwise he might very well kill him.

He lost count of how many worlds he went through and eventually they all started to blur together. He was exhausted. He'd been arrested, beaten, kidnapped, declared a king of Yerlops, been through battles, and tortures. He'd had to confront Dark Lords, Light Lords, time travelers, evil twins, Potters, Weasleys, Muggles, Centaurs, Death Eaters, and many others.

He needed a stiff drink. A stiff drink, a beautiful woman, and a tropical island.

When he came to a world where the Dark Lord had won the first war, Muggleborns were kidnapped at the first sign of magic and adopted out, and Potter was a Prince, he was ready to bash his head into a stone wall. Thankfully, Lord Voldemort wasn't nearly as crazy as he'd been back home, and he was more or less welcomed with open arms. That was, of course, only after he'd explicitly said he was there to get the other doppelganger and leave forever. The Dark Lord was intrigued of the idea of cross dimensional travel as was his dark haired 'protégé'. That only irritated Draco.

He arrived just in time for the big end-of-summer ball that was held at Hogwarts to welcome the incoming students. He wondered whose idea that was and why they hadn't had the same idea on his world. He'd been there three weeks after catching wind of a local miracle in Muggle London. It had caught the Ministry's attention as well since Magic and Mundane were strictly separated. That saddened Draco a bit. He'd rather liked the Muggle fashion of miniskirts.

His other in this world was utterly enthralled with him for reasons the doppelganger had never bothered to find out. Once again he was older than his counterpart who had recently turned fifteen. The fact that it was a Malfoy to carve his way into an alternate reality seemed to be a large ego inflator for the other. Draco didn't appreciate being used so when asked certain questions he answered honestly and with the hope of destroying any fantasies about the grandeur of his trip.

"So what's the Dark Lord of your world like?" Matthias Blaise asked him during the 'private' party that was held in a room off the main ballroom. It was supposed to be a private time between Voldemort and his Death Eaters. Draco was invited as a disguinished guest.

"Dead," he replied bluntly lifting the bottle of firewhiskey he'd claimed for himself back up to his lips.

"How?" Lucius asked him.

"Well, when Harry was twelve Voldemort made the fatal mistake of trying kill someone he was rather fond of," Draco replied his tone oozing condescending malice. "It didn't work out too well." The memory of it all forced Draco to take yet another large swing of alcohol.

"Twelve?" Bellatrix gaped. Draco nodded forlornly as he turned the now empty bottle completely upside down as if to assure himself it was indeed all gone. Why was the whiskey always gone?

"How many worlds have you crossed looking for him?" Voldemort asked serenely from his place by the window.

"I've lost count," he said sadly, coming to terms that the whiskey was gone. "Too many."

"You are a loyal friend," the dictator said. His tone was neutral so Draco couldn't tell if he was mocking him or not. He settled on a shrug and a vague statement.

"Harry is what Harry is," Draco replied. "You wouldn't understand."

"Try us," Narcissa pressed in a motherly tone and Draco sighed again. He knew he really shouldn't answer but he was a little drunk and his tongue was a little looser than normal.

"Harry's everything the light side aspires to be," he said not making eye contact with anyone. "He's not someone you can ignore, nor is he someone you would want to ignore. He's…different. Crazy almost. They called him Slytherin's Littlest Treasure when he was a first year."

"How is that so crazy?" some trophy wife asked from across the room. He had their undivided attention.

"Harry was sorted into Gryffindor."

"Then how could he be-?" Bellatrix started to ask with an ugly sneer and Draco started to laugh.

"Your guess is as good as mine," he said. "Harry spends half his time with the Gryffindors and the other half wandering around the dungeons hissing at the walls. When the Chamber of Secrets was opened he befriended the monster by giving it a name. He said everybody deserves a name. He also used to say that if the Dark Lord had a hug he might not be so cranky." Voldemort made a slightly amused face while everyone else hid their snickers and giggles behind their hands.

"And yet he killed him," the Dark Lord pointed out. Draco shrugged again.

"Yeah, well, shit happens in battle," he said.

"He seems like quite the character, your friend," Lucius said and Draco nodded.

"Unfortunately."

"Why do you want to know?" Draco asked the younger versions of himself and the people he knew.

"Well, we heard about what you told my father at the ball last week," the younger blond said, "and we just wanted to hear a little more about him. You know, so we're prepared if we happen to meet him." Draco raised an amused eyebrow at that but set down his book on the Library table.

"He's not a threat to you," he said. And they perked up at the opening. Draco sighed. "Fine, what do you want to know?"

"What's he like?" Hermione asked and the other Harry nodded. Draco knew that the dark haired boy had been dying to ask these questions but Draco had been avoiding him like the plague. He was afraid he'd get the two confused and beat him up on sheer principle.

"Harry's Harry," Draco said and almost laughed at the frustrated expressions that flashed across the three's faces. "He's different. I've never met anybody like him. It's a difficult to explain."

"Please try?" Potter asked sincerely. Draco sighed again (something he was doing a lot of) and took a moment to think about his answer. A soft smile crossed his face as he thought of his Gryffindork friend a little more.

"Harry came from a bad situation," Draco told them. "And he did let it affect him, just not in a bad way. When he first came to Hogwarts, everyone thought he was stark raving mad. I remember that he thought the concept of Houses was stupid and he hated wearing robes. He couldn't write with a quill so he had some Muggle pens sent to him. He didn't understand that I didn't want to be his friend and that as a Gryffindor the last place he should be was the Slytherin common room. One night he came down with his Potions homework and asked a Prefect to help him. He said he'd heard the Slytherins were some of the best Potions students in the school and that he would make it worth our while."

He saw smiles start across the teens' faces as they imagined it and he had to admit that it was a nice story. Most stories about Harry were.

"What did he give in return?" the other Draco asked.

"At the time we thought the payment was a head start in the House Cup points," he replied. "Harry purposefully lost over two hundred points by going into the Forbidden Forest at night to 'explore'." Hermione gasped at such a dangerous stunt. "But later we found out that his payment was something less…materialistic."

"Like what?" Potter asked.

"Inspiration," Draco said and took in their confused faces before continuing. "Harry stood up for Slytherins in public. At the time we were a House that was greatly discriminated against because of the events of the first war." He was glad he had explained the circumstances of the wars already even if it had only been briefly. "The Gryffindors nearly turned on him but Harry held fast. He told them that they were just as guilty of prejudice as the Slytherins were. He was never able to erase House rivalry but he did manage to convince us to stop trying to kill each other."

"How?" the other Draco questioned. "What did he do?"

"He was just Harry," Draco replied. "He didn't do it consciously per se. He didn't start a movement or make any speeches or anything. He just made some friends."

"Wow," Hermione said her eyes sparkling.

"Yeah," Draco agreed. "It was quite the year."

"What else did he do?" Potter asked.

"Lots of things," he said. "Played tag with some hippogriffs, tricked Snape into becoming his guardian, and ran off by himself in Knockturn Alley. It would take me a week to get through half of the things Harry's done."

"How did he trick Professor Snape into becoming his guardian?" Hermione asked, shocked.

"Why would he want to?" Potter asked before he could stop himself. The other Malfoy gave a small glare and Draco gave a small smirk.

"I never was told that story," he replied. "Harry said it was bad form for a magician to reveal his secrets and Severus refuses to admit that he was tricked by an eleven year old Gryffindor." That earned him some small laughs. Feeling a little less angry about the situation by this point Draco continued unprompted.

"Harry has always been like that," he replied. "Nothing's normal about him. The only girl he ever loved was a criminal who fled Britain with a boat load of Galleons and stolen heirlooms."

"Now that sounds like a good story," Malfoy said his eyes sparkling just as much as everyone else's.

"It is but we don't really talk about her," he replied. "She hurt him something fierce and she was lucky to make it out at all."

"What do you mean?" Hermione asked.

"Slytherins take care of their own," Draco replied. "Especially, when that person is Harry." There was a small moment of silence as the three students took that in. Trying to direct the conversation back to a more pleasant topic, Potter spoke up.

"You said before that people thought he was mad?" he prompted. Draco laughed at that one.

"Yeah," he said. "Harry has some…quirks, I guess you could call them, that make him unique."

"Like what?" Potter asked.

"Well, he's really smart, almost a genius, but he was never really all that academically minded. He didn't even know Hogwarts had a library until third year when he finally seemed to notice that our Hermione always seemed to be able to evade him."

"How did he not know that Hogwarts has a Library?" Hermione asked scandalized. Draco fought his urge to laugh hysterically and just shrugged, a smile playing on his lips.

"I don't know," he told her gently as if breaking terrible news. "Just didn't pay all that much attentions I guess. But he was always near the top of every class without even trying. When Severus found out about it he forced him to concentrate and do all that he was able to. Harry finished his schooling three years before the rest of us."

"Oh wow," Hermione said, utterly fascinated. "That's amazing." Draco couldn't help but agree.

"What other quirks?" Malfoy asked eager to move past Harry's genuisness.

"Oh, lots of things," Draco said, pausing slightly to collect his thoughts more completely. "Let's see, he had a tendency to forget his shoes and robes so sometimes he would show up to class in Muggle clothes and barefooted. It only happened a few times and only when he was particularly stressed."

"That's a strange way to show stress," Potter said, his eyebrows crinkled.

"Harry isn't normal," Draco reminded him.

"What else?" Hermione asked excited about all she was learning about this supposed great and powerful cross dimensional traveler.

"He likes to run around in the rain, he has a soft spot for orphans and stray animals, he makes friends wherever he goes, and he's almost impossible to control. And believe me, Snape's tried. It's not that Harry's rebellious or anything, he's just such a free spirit he's hard to pin down. I can't tell you how many times we'd be walking along somewhere and you'd turn around and he'd be gone.

"He did that once when we were on a vacation in Africa and we found him three hours later riding an elephant with some tribal medicine man on his way to heal the daughter of a local chief."

"He sounds amazing," Potter said a look of amazement and excitement on his face.

"Yeah," Draco said, sadness creeping back into his voice at the thought of his runaway friend. Nobody knew why Harry had left and Draco was terrified of finding out. He'd prayed to whichever god would listen that the Gryffindor just wanted some grand adventure. He hated to think that he had left because he didn't like what he was leaving. That thought was terrible. "Yeah he is pretty amazing."

"Draco!" The blond turned at the shout to see one of the Dark Lord's personal guards running towards him. "We found him!"

"What?" he asked, surprised despite the fact that he had expected this to happen eventually. "When? Where?"

"He tracked him down near the Werewolf colonies," the man replied and Draco repressed his groan. "He says he was trying to see if the Nargles had invaded. Do you know what he meant?" Draco just sneered. Harry and Luna were a match made in crazyville. Draco had always believed that he would end up dating the blond witch but they seemed content with simply spouting gibberish at each other and nothing more.

"No," he replied not entirely untruthfully. "I can't say I do."

"Oh, well he's in Headmistress Lestrange's office. They're waiting for you."

Draco immediately left, not even pausing to thank the man.

"This is a nice office." Draco would recognize that voice anywhere. _Harry_. They'd found him; Draco felt such a powerful rush of relief his knees nearly gave out. He didn't knock, he just walked right in. Harry was perusing the objects on display in the office while everyone watched him closely as if he would combust at any second.

The second the Slytherin entered Harry froze, his smile slipped, and he watched Draco warily. He knew he was in trouble.

"Hi," he said timidly. Draco was across the room in less than a second. He grabbed a hold of Harry's shoulder, activated the device and sent them home. Finally.

"They've placed Harry on house arrest," Hermione said.

"For how long?" Ron asked, concern etched onto his face almost permanently now days.

"Professor Snape told me it was only until December 1st," she replied taking another bite of the plate of pie they were sharing.

"That will feel like an eternity to him," Ron said.

"He deserves it," Draco snapped. The two Gryffindors glanced at him quickly and then looked away. Draco had been the one to volunteer to go after Harry. He'd insisted and now he refused to talk about what he had seen in the other worlds. Hermione was worried for him and feared that it could potentially end his and Harry's normally strong friendship.

"Draco, I'm sorry for what Harry put you through," she said wanting to fix it all but not having the slightest clue how.

"It's not your responsibility to apologize for him," Draco said refusing to make eye contact.

"I know," she replied. "But if you won't give him the opportunity to, then somebody else has to say it."

"I've given him plenty of opportunities!" the blond nearly shouted, standing up so abruptly that he overturned his chair. He paid it no mind as he stormed out of the little flat that Ron and Hermione owned.

"What do you think he saw?" she asked, after nearly a minute of silence.

"I don't know," Ron replied.

"Well, whatever it was, Harry intended for him to see it," she said contemplatively.

"What do mean by that?" Ron asked surprised.

"Harry knew Draco would follow him," Hermione said. "I think he was trying to show him that sometimes the best place to be is home. Draco was planning on leaving Britain."

"What?!" exclaimed the redhead. "Why?"

"I think he thinks there's nothing left for him here," she replied. Ron thought about that. The story was a sad one; it was also one he didn't want to think about. Draco had always been the one to show the strongest front, but he was also the one most vulnerable. He was one of the few that knew Harry on a deeper level. Draco knew him as more than a slightly insane, very quirky, intelligent boy hero. The Slytherin knew him as a friend. A good friend. And Harry feared losing that more than anything else.

So it didn't surprise Hermione that Harry had set out to teach Draco some sort of lesson about not leaving your family, even though it was a slightly selfish and grandiose scheme. And despite feeling that Draco deserved to do what he wanted in his life, she hoped that Harry had succeeded.

"You think he succeeded?" Ron asked her staring at the front door with a thoughtful expression.

"God, I hope so."


End file.
